Homeschooling a 3 Year Old

I feel like a lot huge amount of my recent posts have been about food. I apologize, but Im kind of obsessed with food--i have to think about what i can eat, when I can eat, when I can't eat, and what I can't eat all day long, so its on my brain a lot-- and oh yeah, on top of all the diabetes stuff, I am pregnant :) So, I wanted to share some recent exciting news in our household: our three year old has joined his brothers and sisters at our school table. He has been a participant in Bible and somedays science or history, but last week he began his own workbooks.

He has been doing some elmo wipe off books that all 3 of my kids have now done and now he graduated to workbooks. I picked these particular ones up at Barnes and Noble-- they actually have a great collection of workbooks and curriculum support books not in the kids section, but in the education/parenting section. I got him a book on colors, one on same-different, and one on tracing. These are 3 great areas to begin my 3 year old with-- but keep in mind, not all 3 year olds are at the same point, so think about where your child is at and start from there and tailor your curriculum to them. This is a very valuable point for homeschooling any child any age as thats one of the perks of homeschooling.

We are wrapping up the older two's school year-- just 50 days left :) I also think thats another perk of homeschooling-- making our own school year calendar that works best for us. This year it wasn't planned, but God planned for little mister #4 to end about 2-3 weeks after school ends. And when we begin again right after the 4th of July, we can adjust our speed to homeschooling with a newborn.

I think since I am talking about homeschooling a 3 year old, i should mentione none of my kids ever went to preschool. I dont feel bad that they're in the minority as they are both socially and academically average or above average. Having my degree in early childhood and hearing my professor say again and again that children learn best through play, why pay to play? Most homes and parents are more equipped then they give themselves credit for in handling play, abcs, and 123s. But, its a personal choice and we choose homeschool from birth to hopefully highschool and so far I can't say that our choices have ruined our kids chances for the future. And, one great thing I love about homeschooling this little guy is how his older brother and sister have self-appointed themselves as his teachers. My oldest son sits and reads him dr. seuess books and patiently goes over words. My daughter works with him on his colors-- I didn't expect them to take such an interest in his schooling and I think this is yet another beautiful aspect of homeschooling.